Chapter 278: Pei Three Wants to End Himself? The Old Duke Is at Death's Door!

The Jade Envoys, hearing this, all became excited and stepped forward.

"Master, let us subordinates handle this!"

"We subordinates will certainly capture this woman and personally hand her over to the master."

Qin Yu heard this and shouted sternly: "Absolutely cannot be careless. Although this woman grew up in the countryside since childhood, she is after all the bloodline of the General's Mansion; her grandmother, though old, was once a female general who commanded the battlefield."

"I heard she returned to Jinling less than half a year ago, and now she has completely reclaimed her position."

"East Yin Lane has now fallen into ruin; I have heard of the fate of that false miss and even her brother's deeds. I always feel that these matters may be inseparable from this woman!"

The Jade Envoys were all greatly surprised.

"How formidable?"

"But how exactly did she manage it?"

Qin Yu let out a cold snort: "This woman must not be underestimated."

"But there's no need to be overly nervous."

"Remember, act cautiously; capturing her is not difficult."

After speaking, Qin Yu raised her head to look at the raging flames filling the sky, and her heart finally gradually calmed.

Having suffered a setback today, she will surely retrieve everything in the future.

A mere Li Qingluo—she naturally didn't take it to heart.

But what about that Lord Yue Five… could he really be Prince Su Duan Rongshi?

Pei Qianhong and Old Duke Pei are also missing; we cannot confirm whether they are in his hands.

If the Blood Gu Worm and Zhui Ya both fall into his hands, the truth of the Mad Blood Disease will likely be impossible to conceal.

However……

"I am the Heaven‑Chosen Woman; I will never lose."

"Giddy‑up—"

In the dark night, the sound of horse hooves carried the confidence of certain victory, racing southward……

Li Qingluo woke from a nap and had received her grandmother's reply.

"Luo'er, when acting outside, always remember to keep safe. Everything at home, don't worry."

Li Qingluo read it over and over until she heard Zhui Yu knocking at the door: "Miss, Your Highness said the person you wanted to see yesterday can be brought to you today."

Li Qingluo immediately rose: "Zhui Ya?"

I never expected that this Green Pine Back Mountain Cottage is not merely a small cottage.

Behind the cottage, on the steep cliff face, there is an extremely narrow bird path, and at its end there actually is a stone prison.

Li Qingluo followed behind Prince Su Duan Rongshi, Zheng Mama, Leng Dian, and Zhui Yu, who protected her front and rear.

But Zheng Mama's legs went weak at the sight of the bird path; after a few steps she turned back and gave up.

"Miss, this old servant will wait here for your return!"

Her giving up was decisive, and her entrusting of others was equally decisive.

"Prince Su, Your Highness, I hereby entrust my young lady to you! Oh dear, these old arms and legs of mine…"

Li Qingluo dared not lose focus, for a moment's distraction could plunge her into an abyss ten thousand feet deep.

So she walked extremely slowly.

Prince Su today was not in a hurry either, occasionally lowering his gaze to look at the other pair of feet behind him.

In especially narrow spots, he would even stop, leaving Zhui Yu with no temper to speak of.

"Your Highness, quickly give your sleeve for the miss to hold onto!"

"If that really won't do, my own sleeve is willing to lend to the miss!!"

Leng Dian, however, remained calm, as if already accustomed to Your Highness's sudden various oddities lately.

Fortunately, Li Qingluo is not one to dawdle; after walking a while and adapting to the path, she quickened her steps.

Soon, they arrived at the cliffside stone prison.

Li Qingluo saw Zhui Ya, and also saw her master Nan Gongdi.

"Master? Have you been here all last night?"

She was saying how she had seen Zheng Mama, yet never caught sight of the master's figure.

Li Qingluo hurried over, seeing Nan Gongdi looking somewhat worn, and couldn't help but worry.

Nan Gongdi waved his hand: "As master, I'm fine; I'm just handling a few errands for Your Highness."

Prince Su then also spoke up to explain: "I entrusted Mr. Nangong to guard Zhui Ya for one night. Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Nangong."

His courteous manner made Li Qingluo feel somewhat unfamiliar.

Nan Gongdi repeatedly stepped back, bowing to Prince Su Duan Rongshi: "Your Highness, Your Highness is being courteous. However, this shamaness was indeed awake last night as you had anticipated; fortunately I had taken precautions beforehand, which prevented her escape."

Zhui Ya woke up?

Li Qingluo stepped forward, looking at the eternally youthful-faced Zhui Ya before her, yet utterly motionless, her heart filled with doubt.

She recalled the words spoken yesterday at the Macau Casino, when Princess Qin Yu, disguised as a servant, introduced Zhui Ya.

Although it's unclear whether those words were true or false, she had said: "It's a pity she has now suffered a backlash; the one who cast the gu upon her is now unable to move or speak, perhaps already on the brink of death."

If that statement is true……

Li Qingluo: "Is the one who cast the gu upon her the Old Duke? Now the Old Duke cannot move or speak, so she too suffers the linked backlash, unable to move or speak."

"If she had awakened last night, could it be that the Old Duke had awakened?"

"The two of them are now one entity, sharing life and death!"

Li Qingluo's speculation earned Nan Gongdi's deep agreement.

"Luo'er's guess might be correct."

Prince Su didn't speak, merely gave Li Qingluo a deep look.

Then he turned and led Li Qingluo further inside.

This stone dungeon is very deep.

The further we go in, the more endless it seems……

When it was pitch black, Leng Dian finally lit a torch.

Ahead was a wooden fence gate; after pushing it open, there was another iron fence gate.

Inside the gate, water dripped; as the firelight illuminated, everything before us gradually became clear.

Li Qingluo saw the Pei family's third son, Pei Qinghong.

His hands were hoisted high; his toes could touch the ground, but his whole feet could not reach it.

The bloodstains all over his body had long dried and turned black; his face was still fairly intact, but his hands were a bloody mess, looking as good as ruined……

It seems he was tortured terribly.

Seeing him here, Li Qingluo wasn't particularly shocked.

She had long guessed that the old duke might have fallen into Prince Su's hands; otherwise, Princess Qinyu wouldn't have gone to such trouble to bring out the blood gu worm for auction, nor would she have pushed Zhaina into the spotlight.

It seems Princess Qinyu truly intended to set a trap for Prince Su yesterday!

Surely the old duke or Pei Qinghong must possess something she absolutely needs; otherwise she wouldn't risk the whole Macao Gambling House to do what she did yesterday.

Alas, the devil is a zhang higher than the dao is a chi—Prince Su not only avoided her trap, but he also captured Zhaina and the blood gu worm.

Li Qingluo looked at Pei Qinghong before her, feeling nothing in particular.

Although she had once saved his life at the Charitable Manor and stayed a few days at his Si Garden,

she had even thought he would be a decent distant cousin.

but she also, from the last time he seized her and took her to the Pei household—where she nearly lost her life—had come to a clear separation from him.

"It's you……"

Qinghong lifted his head, opened his eyes, saw Li Qingluo, and gave a bitter smile.

"I never imagined…… that one day I would let you see me like this…… Pei certain…… I am utterly ashamed."

He lowered his gaze lightly, his eyes filled only with shattered stillness.

Seeing this scene, Zhui Yu and Leng Dian exchanged a glance.

"What…… is this?"

The two, risking decapitation, couldn't help but look toward their own master.

Perhaps the master never imagined that Miss Li and this Pei San would appear to have some past connection!!

Indeed, the lord's prince appears calm, but he's actually gritting his teeth in secret!

"Oh dear——"

Even Leng Dian felt a sour ache.

Their lord prince, when has he ever suffered like this in his life?

Duan Rongshi: "It seems you two are indeed old acquaintances."

Prince Su said as he walked over and sat down in a grand master's chair.

Li Qingluo: "Your Highness, have you forgotten? My grandmother was a daughter of the Pei family; I and Pei Sanlang are indeed distant cousins."

"Besides, last time the matchmaker, the third son, tied me and Miss Pan together and threw us into the Pei family dungeon; if we hadn't luckily escaped, we would likely have become the blood slaves of my great maternal uncle."

Pei Sanlang quickly lifted his head to look at her, pupils contracting: "It really is you!"

"I…… I didn't know that was…… you."

"Forget it, what does it matter if you know?"

He pulled up the corners of his mouth with a deep, irrepressible bitterness: "Things have come to this; indeed there's nothing left to say."

"Just Li, my female cousin, you've always been kind—why would you side with that tyrant?"

Duan Rongshi raised an eyebrow.

A slight twitch of his fingertips already signaled killing intent.

However Li Qingluo stepped forward and shouted low: "Shut up!"

"If Your Highness is tyrannical, then what are you?"

"Killing people like hemp, toying with lives."

"The prince kills only those who deserve death!"

"You kill those maidens, those innocent lives—even the Twelfth Lady—could they possibly deserve death?"

"When the Twelfth Lady died, you were right there, watching her die with your own eyes, weren't you?"

"You are her third brother."

"And you are her closest kin in this world—how have you treated her?"

"Even blood relatives are treated this way, yet you dare say Prince Su is tyrannical!?"

"Pei San, though countless people in the world can say such things, only you, this cold-blooded, cruel beast, are unworthy!"

Prince Su's mouth corner twitched slightly upward.

Pei San, however, burst into a "hahaha" laugh.

Laughing and laughing, tears streamed down his face.

"Do you think I want to live like this, committing these atrocities?"

"How could I not want to? I'm merely trying to be the Pei family's third son!"

"I——"

He suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood from rage-induced heart turmoil, then, closing his eyes, forcibly circulated his inner strength; Zhui Yu, seeing this, stepped forward at once and shoved a pill into Pei Sanlang's mouth.

Thinking of ending yourself? Don't rush, Young Master Pei San.

You haven't finished what you were supposed to say.

Zhui Yu clapped his hands, seeing Pei San exert himself again, obviously unable to circulate his internal energy, and only then satisfiedly stepped back.

Li Qingluo also didn't want to say more.

Duan Rongshi, seeing that, merely raised his hand to gesture, and Leng Dian immediately turned and headed into the darker interior.

Soon after, Leng Dian and others lifted out an old man covered in filth and disarray.

This person was precisely the old duke in a coma.

Looking at him, he apparently hadn't been tortured.

But he was obviously unconscious, withered like dried wood, and on his last breath.

Li Qingluo stepped forward, the old duke twitched his eyelids at once, and Duan Rongshi, seeing that, immediately rose and pulled her behind him.

Then he ordered Leng Dian: "Go, bring them all up."

Li Qingluo found it strange—how, just as she stepped forward, the old duke seemed about to wake?

She couldn't help but look up at Prince Su ahead of her, and Duan Rongshi gave her a slight nod.

You are related to him by blood, and you are your grandmother's direct granddaughter, so your blood might be extraordinarily sweet and delicious to him.

Upon hearing this, Li Qingluo instantly got goosebumps all over!

Sweet, delicious?

Is this describing human blood?

But she quickly recalled the words she had heard from Nanjia before his death, as well as what the Luo Shen doctor had said about the situation in the Blood Madness village.

Those with Blood Madness abnormally love the blood of their kin!